Chelsea Women and Arsenal Women meet in the Women’s Super League on Sunday with both sides in a strange position.
Neither set of fans is happy with the way their teams have started this season, despite both being unbeaten. Chelsea have won two and drawn one in the WSL, while Arsenal have one win and two draws. They both opened their Champions League campaigns with victories too.
But they have a similar problem. They just cannot convert their chances. What does that mean for this Sunday’s game?
Chelsea’s finishing problems
Only Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur (11) have scored more goals in the WSL this season than Chelsea’s eight. So their problems can be easy to overlook. But Sonia Bompastor’s side have struggled for their domination of matches.
The Blues have taken 82 shots in the WSL this season, more than any team. They also lead the WSL for their 28 shots on target. But that also means they have only hit the target with 34.15% of their shots, with only three teams less accurate. One of those teams is Charlton Athletic, who sit bottom of the table with just one goal (and one shot on target) from their 11 attempts. The other two are Tottenham and Everton — two sides doing well — but still not company Chelsea will be aiming to keep.
To further compile the misery, Chelsea are underperforming against their Expected Goals in the WSL this season. Their eight goals have come from 10.5 xG, an underperformance of -2.5. Only two teams have underperformed against their xG worse than Chelsea.
Not every attack ends with a shot, whether on or off target. In Chelsea’s case, it can also need to offsides. Only London City Lionesses (12) have been caught offside more times than Chelsea’s 11 this season. That’s been a long-term problem for Chelsea, who led the WSL with 62 offsides last season — though their average has jumped from 2.82 to 3.67 per game.
Lack of striker
Chelsea spent big to sign Melvine Malard from Manchester United over the summer, but she has only played 27 minutes in the WSL due to injury. Aggie Beever-Jones has also struggled with injury, while Mayra Ramirez is back in Colombia. It’s left Chelsea with a familiar problem, having to rely on playing someone out of position. Winger Alyssa Thompson has been the go to, but midifelder Sjoeke Nusken has also been a choice.
Lauren James has also had to carry the attacking responsibilities, with 19 shots — more than any other Chelsea player. Ellie Carpenter and Nusken are the only other Chelsea players to have at least 10 shots, which again forms part of the problem. Carpenter has been key to Chelsea getting into key attacking roles from right-back. But Chelsea do not want to get into a position where they are relying on their right-back to test the opposition goalkeeper.
The key example of this was Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Austria Vienna in the Champions League in midweek, where the Blues were outshot by the tournament debutants. Thompson, Wieke Kaptein and Malard were the only three players to have more than one shot, with the former two and Veerle Buurman the players to hit the target. Without James — missing through injury — Chelsea were only able to score through a Kaptein wonderstrike. They looked lost otherwise.
Arsenal showing up rivals
For all of Chelsea’s problems, they’ll be happy they’re not Arsenal. The Gunners have real reasons for fans to worry. They rank fourth in the WSL for their 60 shots so far this season, and fourth for 22 on target. They also sit around mid-table for their shot accuracy of 36.67%, higher than Chelsea and Man City. But Arsenal have only scored two goals.
Renee Slegers’ side beat Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 in their WSL opener, with 13 shots. Their 1-1 draw against Man Utd saw the Gunners score with one of 17 shots. The game that sums up Arsenal’s season was their goalless draw with Crystal Palace. Arsenal failed to find the net despite taking 30 shots, hitting the target nine times. They posted 2.56 xG in that game, contributing to their worst stat. Arsenal’s xG underperformance of -3.8 is the worst in the WSL, with just two goals from 5.8 xG.
To make matters worse, Arsenal’s struggles in front of goal come despite them dominating matches. The Gunners’ 67.83% possession is the most in the WSL this season. They’ve also attempted 814 final third passes, almost 200 more than any other club in the league. Arsenal’s control is aided by their press, winning possession 29 times in the attacking third, again more than any other side. But that only makes their lack of success worse.
It was a similar story in the Champions League. Arsenal only hit the target with two of their 19 shots against HB Koge, needing an injury-time penalty to break the deadlock and secure a 1-0 win.
Gunners’ bad luck
The good news for Arsenal fans is that their struggles in front of goal are bound to stop. At the moment, it’s a case of bad luck rather than an overriding problem that needs fixing. However, Alessia Russo could do with a bit more support.
The striker is Arsenal’s only player to have hit double figures for shots, with 11 in total. She’s yet to score but has hit the target four times, the second-most of any Gunners player. Russo has also missed six big chances, the joint-most in the league.
Arsenal’s main problem at the moment is that, when Russo looks to drop deep, they don’t have the sufficient cover from their other players. That will come. And Arsenal do have quality in their team. Lisa Baum is one of Arsenal’s two goalscorers this season, netting the opening weekend winner against Brighton. And she’s been their most clinical player, hitting the target with five of her six efforts on target. The one shot that didn’t officially hit the target was blocked, too.
The question is, can Arsenal’s luck turn at Stamford Bridge this weekend?